running on and on and on and on

[mark1gls]

Triple prob plugs should not be a problem, I used to use them but gone onto the Bosch 4 prob plugs now, as edmundator says black plugs means its running to rich but if the car has only been started and stop and not had a run this can also cause blacken plugs.

[jond]

Yeah will clean em up and see how it goes the car has done loads of motorway miles so it has been used quite a bit
i think the advice about the timing being out could be true ive been reading on the net about it and the pear shaped long mark on the flywheel is 18deg btdc tdc should be a small hole punched in the flywheel 37mm from 18deg btdc which i cant find yet if its been set up to the wrong mark on the fly wheel would it still run? at the moment it drives ok with no missfires but runs on terrible when the engine is warmed up. also the starter sounds slugish when turning the engine over even though the battery is fine

[essextom]

Check the gasket between the carb and inlet manifold for leaks. Mine is fitted with a weber and had same prob.

[jond]

Yes checked the carb base and all is fine Today i got hold of a decent torch and managed to find the dimple on the fly wheel for tdc with that sorted and lined up (checked piston on no1 was at top with a screwdriver carefully) i checked the mark on the dizzy the rotor is pointing about 1/4 inch past the mark . On the cam sprocket the inside dot is at the very bottom of the rocker cover (1/4 inch down from where it is bolted down) Tbh not sure what to do now Got loads of time to sort as i dont use the car Any help would be great Will invest in a haynes but if anyone is local to bolton who has time to have a look you are more than welcome forgot to ask will i have to remove the dizzy completly to line up the rotor and mark on the dizzy housing Just been reading up on the net and seem to get different stories about it. thanks jon

[mark1gls]

What engine code is your car, is it an EX engine?
I'll have a look in the Haynes and find out where the timing should be as its different for each type of engine.

[jond]

Yes. Its an. Ex engine code.

[mark1gls]

Bit of info here on timing marks.
http://www.clubgti.com/showthread.php?2 ... ing-issues

http://forums.vwvortex.com/showthread.p ... our-timing

My haynes manual is in the garage down the road so will have a look tomorrow to check what that says but at a guess you need the cam shaft timing dot on the inside of the pulley to be level with the top of the head with the cam cover removed, the intermediate shaft and crank shaft to line up the two dots and the rotor arm to point to the line on the dissy body, you should see this line when you take the dissy cap off, the fly wheel to have the dot at the mark not the dimond shape.

[marcus]

EX is 18 degrees BTDC.

[jond]

Thanks. Progress report Today i had a few hours so spent a bit more time workng on the car First off tdc on the fly wheel Then i removed the cam cover fanbelt bottom pulley (after checking it goes on exactly the same way) then removed bottom cam cover Then refitted pulley to check timing marks All ok so then cam pulley dot checked This was about 1/4 inch below the valve cover not flush like i have seen on photos so must be one notch out so off with the belt and back one notch then refit it, What a payne When i tighten the belt the bottom crank pulley kept moving ever so slightly so i moved it back ever so slightly before putting the belt back on and when it was adjusted up everything lined up nice(any tips for future easy belt fitting would be great) i turned it over twice by hand then checked all timing marks all spot on belt 90 degree twist dizzy mark is just slightly to the right of the mark(advanced) as before , does this sound right . so next i fired it up and it started straight up starter turned over normal not sluggish like before plus it didnt missfire when first started for 30 seconds or so . it just went straight on choke to 2000rpm . i didnt run it too long as i wanted to celebrate my minor victory before it all went tits up, but i must say i did sound alot better Never done a timing belt before so just glad it started Maybe should of asked before but is the ex engine non interference did check on loads of forums before i started and the general opinion is that is so valves wont meet pistons if it breaks plus i was wondering what the intermediate shaft is connected too thanks jon

[marcus]

EX is an interference engine, so care required, common to engines with high compression ratios, EX is 10:1.

[mark1gls]

The intermediate shaft is what spins the rotor arm in the dissy around.
I find changing the cam belt either it fits on and lines up first time or can take several goes as things spin around or more when you tighten to belt so thats why its important to check and re check all the timing marks.
Take it for a drive and see how it drives, you might need to tweek to timing and tick over but see how it drives first and if you hear a "pinking noise" under hard acceration (but the car in 4th gear at 30 mph and slowly push to acceration pedal to the floor and listen out the window) if you hear the pinking noise the timing will need retarding as it can course problems with the inside of the engine.

To adjust the timing losen the clamp holding the dissy (13mm spanner needed) and turn the dissy anti-clockwise to retard the timing but before you move anything make a mark on the shaft of the dissy in line with the clamp so you can put it back in the same place if it all goes wrong.

[jond]

thanks for the info will try that when i get chance

[mark1gls]